Never Underestimate Naruto
by Rikkudo
Summary: Drabbles on the Naruto-verse. Independent chapters. Frequent updates.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **_Let me explain just what this is. These are drabbles. You see, I was—and still am—dissatisfied with my skills in writing. So my good friend PyrothTenka suggested this little thing called "750 words a day". Pretty straight-forward. I write 750 words every day about anything and everything._

_The _catch_ is that I'm not allowed to edit any of it. 750 words, then I move on to something else._

_I am doing this solely to hone my skills. You don't have to review for this, but if you do, it will be appreciated. Thank you._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

Never Underestimate Naruto

Chapter 1

"Well, Naruto? What do you know, huh?! You, who've never had a family! What the hell do _you _know of my pain?!"

Naruto felt something break upon hearing those words. He had thought . . . he'd thought that someone finally understood him. But he was wrong.

"You're right . . ."

Twin Sharingan blinked in confusion, and Naruto looked straight into them.

"You're right. I _don't_ know what it's like! I've never had a family. I've never had anyone to love or who loved me. Heck, I've never had any _friends_."

Something wet dribbled down his cheeks, and Naruto scrubbed at his eyes.

Sasuke's expression never changed from that of utter scorn. So what? So _what _if the dobe never had anyone? That loneliness could _never_ compare to the pain of having a family, then having them ripped from your live by your own brother.

This idiot could never understand.

Sasuke sighed, and with the exhalation, some heavy weight shed from his soul.

The shackles that tied him to Konoha had been broken, possibly forever.

And Sasuke didn't give a damn. He smiled a smile that somehow managed to be a challenging snarl. "Come, Naruto. Show me that you haven't learned nothing since we were placed on the same team. I would hate it if they sent someone so _weak_ to bring me back."

Sasuke tried not to flinch at the expression of utter _hurt_ on Naruto's features, but after a while, it got easier. He simply stopped caring. After all, what gave Naruto the _right_ to get in the way of his revenge?

Sharingan swirled.

"Dodge," Sasuke said.

Six shuriken screamed through the air, all heading straight towards Naruto. Fortunately for him, the blond boy seemed to snap out of his emotional state, his battle instincts roaring to the surface.

He palmed a kunai in each hand and went to work deflecting four of the shuriken. He barely managed to dodge one by twisting his stomach to the side, but was caught by surprise by the last one which homed in on his eye.

Blue eyes _burned_.

_Click._

That was the sound of steel against ivory. Naruto had caught the shuriken with his teeth.

Glaring, he spat it out. "Is that the best you can do?!" he screamed. He was done talking. Done pleading. If Sasuke wouldn't come back, he would _make _him come back. "You'll need to do better than that if you wanna take _me_ down!"

Sasuke only smirked. "You missed the last one."

Naruto glowered. "What last o—"

There was a sudden sharp pain in his lower back, and Naruto looked behind himself to see shinobi steel impaled right above his kidneys, ripping through his jumpsuit with terrifying ease. When did he—

"Pay attention to your surroundings, idiot." Sasuke's foot slammed into his face with devastating force, sending him hurtling through the air and down deep into the water.

It took nearly ten seconds for Naruto to wrestle his way back to the surface, and by that time, the water around him was red.

Now, Naruto had been injured before, but for some reason this _really _hurt. It hurt so much that it was hard to _move_.

"It really is amazing," Sasuke said, kneeling down to look Naruto in the face, "how effective it is to aim for the pressure points in a fight. If you manage to hit one, your opponents go," Sasuke raised a hand and brought it down to slice through the water under his feet, "right down."

"Bastard," Naruto growled, all the while struggling to stand. "This . . . isn't enough to stop me!" Slowly, unsteadily, he rose to his feet.

Kunai in hand, hitai-ate tied back, he lowered himself into a fighter's stance. Naruto had no style to speak of, but he was a natural fighter, and this stance just _felt_ right.

Sasuke only barked a laugh. "I hoped you weren't weak. Come, Naruto! Show me you're worth fighting!"

Naruto's eyes flashed red for a moment, and Sasuke blinked, thinking he'd imagined it, but in that short time Naruto vanished.

Not a trace.

Sasuke's eyes darted around him, trying to locate his wayward teammate. Just as his gaze swept over the top of the waterfall, something with the force of a meteor drove itself into the side of his face.

Sasuke went _flying_.

It was thirty yards before he bounced. Forty before he flipped himself upright. Forty-seven before he finally stopped skidding.

He clutched at the side of his face, but paid no attention to the pain. He was far too focused on his teammate some distance away.

His teammate with red, slitted eyes and great, bulging fangs.

The air suddenly felt like it was on fire, and the water around Naruto began to steam.

"S**a**su**ke** . . ." Sasuke shivered at the primal growl. What the hell was—

"**SaSuKEEE!**" The Uchiha blanched at the utter _rage_ on Naruto's face, at the baritone of his once squeaky voice. Suddenly, he had his doubts on winning. On _living_.

Because whatever that was, it wasn't Naruto.

Then that thing blurred, racing towards him, and he never saw it coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **_Just because pre-Shippuden Naruto is the best thing ever._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

Never Underestimate Naruto

Chapter 2

"The one single destiny that everyone has equally . . . is death."

All around the stadium, people's eyes were downcast. After all, who could argue with that? Especially for were shinobi, death was a constant, inescapable companion.

Uzumaki Naruto, however, only scowled. "So what?! I don't know when to give up! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The arena was filled with orange. With a roar, Naruto and his clones advanced.

Neji only smirked.

They came at the Hyuuga all at once, working in perfect coordination to corner him, to outmaneuver him.

It didn't work. Neji twisted like a snake, evading attacks which by all rights should have hit him. Clones came nonstop, not giving Neji a single moment's rest, but it looked like that didn't even matter.

After two minutes, dozens of exhausted clones stood panting while surrounding a stoic Neji. How the hell had he managed to avoid them all?

That was when the smirk on Neji's face grew cold and calculating.

"I told you I'm not such a fool, right?"

Naruto gulped.

Neji sprinted straight through the clone army, heading towards one in the very back.

_'I already know which one the real one is!'_

Eyes wide, Naruto tried to backpedal, but the Byakugan wielder caught up to him easily. With a grunt of effort, Neji jabbed chakra-laced fingers right over his heart.

One by one, the clones began to dispel, and Neji's smirk grew positively _vicious_.

"This is the body that has attacked the least, due to the fear of having its tenketsu points pressed. With each encounter, it became more and more clear. You're the real one!"

Several more clones vanished in plumes of smoke, and Naruto coughed up blood.

Neji withdrew his hand and took a step back.

"Just give up now," he drawled. "Accept your fate for what it is."

Slowly, like a rising beast, the wind stirred. Naruto started to laugh, coughing up blood all the while.

"Haven't I told you—"

Neji's smirk faltered at the confident tone.

"Not to—"

Naruto looked up, and his face—while bloodied and bruised—was one of absolute _victory_.

"Frivolously assume things!"

A plume of white smoke, and Naruto was gone.

Neji gaped. A clone?! Had Naruto intuitively known that he would go for the clone that attacked the least?

_From behind_.

Neji whirled around in time to see four Narutos bearing down on him.

"I've been attacking you head on from the start!" They drew back their fists and struck as one.

None of them hit.

Neji lived up to his reputation of being a prodigy. He dodged, he ducked, he deflected. Once, when a clone got too close for comfort, he picked it up and bodily threw it into one of its comrades. They both erupted into smoke.

They came at him from all sides, but he effortlessly beat them down. With his Byakugan eyes, he could see _exactly _what they were going to—

Neji stiffened, then he spun in place.

Naruto's fist, inches from Neji's face, stopped dead in its tracks.

Up in the stands, the crowd murmured in confusion. What was happening? Had Naruto hit him?

The Hyuuga drew in a deep breath, then _blurred_.

Naruto was hurled away from him in a dazed heap of orange.

Neji slowed to a stop in the middle of a circular crater. Slowly, he stalked over to where Naruto laid.

"What's wrong?" he called. "Weren't you going to defeat me?" In a far quieter voice, he said, "Weren't you going to beat your destiny?"

Naruto slowly got up, his back to the Hyuuga.

"And what makes you think," he said, "that I'm even _close_ to finished?"

He turned, and Neji _flinched_. On Naruto's chest were half a dozen exploding tags.

All of them were lit and burning.

He turned to run.

He wasn't fast enough.

The blast shook the entire arena, and the resulting cloud of dust obscured the sun.

Neji slowly peeled himself off the ground, gritting his teeth at the burns along his back and his limbs. It didn't feel too severe, but it was incredibly painful.

Slowly, he stood and shook his head. That idiot. To go so far just to win. And he didn't even win in the end. The only thing he accomplished was his own death.

A breeze drifted down, and after a few moments Neji saw the sun.

He didn't see Naruto.

No body, no parts, no blood, no orange. Naruto was _gone_.

The young genin didn't bother hiding the utter confusion that he was feeling. Where on earth—

_From above_.

Neji looked up into the blinding sun, and Naruto dove down, a malicious red chakra that couldn't _possibly _be his bursting from within.

For the first time that day, Neji didn't know if he would win.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **_Because I really, really don't like how villains don't _stay _villains. Seriously, Kishimoto, not everyone has to be good at heart. Some people are rotten to the core._

* * *

Never Underestimate Naruto

Chapter 3

"Ah, Kyūbi. How kind of you to come straight to me."

Naruto gasped as a rod blacker than night pierced his shoulder.

He staggered, clutching at this thing which seemed to nail him to the floor. It was _freezing_, and incredibly distracting, but Naruto still looked up.

There at the back of the room stood Nagato, a blue-haired woman standing guard slightly in front of him.

Well, to say that Nagato _stood_ would be a gross exaggeration. He was held up by a forest of needles jabbed into his back. His features were gaunt, his limbs were skin and bone, and he looked like he had one foot in the grave.

But despite that, his frail form radiated an alien strength. Now facing it directly for the first time, Naruto had honest doubts about his chances of victory.

_Jiraiya-chan fought to the bitter end, Naruto-chan. Not once did he back down._

Naruto closed his eyes, feeling the horrible chill of Pein's chakra that pulsed from those creepy black rods, feeling the thousands of people he'd left behind in Konoha, and he looked inside himself and _reached_.

His bronzed eyes snapped open, his pupils the horizontal bar of sage-mode. But there something more. A vertical slash. The mark of the Kyūbi's power.

Nagato stiffened, feeling every _bit_ of the Kyūbi's natural ferocity, every bit of that monstrous HATE. Then his head lolled forward as he gasped for air, and long red hair shadowed his Rinnegan.

The blue-haired woman glanced over, her forehead tight and her eyes worried. "Nagato," she said.

Nagato didn't answer.

Naruto took a step forward, and Konan snapped her gaze towards him. She immediately placed herself between him and Nagato.

She frowned when Naruto gave out a shaky laugh, and she whipped her head around as Nagato suffered through a series of wheezing coughs.

"Nagato!" she said, her anxiety spiking. He always pushed himself too far, she thought. That Chibaku Tensei must have taken more of a toll than she'd imagined.

Naruto laughed again, and Konan couldn't help but turn to face him.

"You know," he said, "I wanted to see... to see if I could ever forgive you. But now that I'm in front of you—"

His grip on the iron rod went from hard to _crushing_.

"—I want you _dead_. I want it more than I've ever wanted anything else."

Konan tensed, her hand brushing back to call paper wheels of death.

"And guess what?" Upon saying those words, Naruto _grinned_. For some reason, Konan felt like grabbing Nagato and getting the hell out of there. That feeling amplified as Naruto's canines abruptly lengthened and his whiskers darkened. "Kyūbi doesn't mind if I use his power to destroy you!"

What?

Then Naruto did the impossible.

He ripped Nagato's chakra-control rod right out of the junction between his shoulder and his chest, then tossed it to the side of the chamber where it fell with a full clang.

Even _Nagato_ gaped. "You can't... You shouldn't be able to do that."

Naruto took a moment to stretch, then he stalked forward, his each step measured and precise. "You shouldn't underestimate me," he said. "A lot of people have. I made it a point to prove them wrong."

As the jinchūriki came closer and closer, Nagato's sense of panic went on overdrive. Because that was no longer a mere sage, no longer just a container of a tailed-beast. The two beings had _merged_.

"You killed Kakashi-sensei. You killed Ero-sennin."

The voice was bitter. Accusing.

_'Jiraiya-sensei . . . Would you understand what I'm trying to do?'_

"It was for a greater cause," Nagato croaked. "They were in the way, so they needed to die. In the end, I wish for peace."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, and suddenly the Kyūbi's rage—while merely leaking through beforehand—was _unleashed_.

"You," Naruto whispered, "you think you're _justified_? You think that murder justifies anything?!"

Nagato raised his head with a Herculean effort and looked Naruto dead in the eye. The Rinnegan pulsed.

"I do not seek to prove myself to you, a shinobi who does not even understand the cycle of hate in which he is trapped."

Something in Naruto seemed to snap at those words.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me about some 'cycle of hate' when you just destroyed my entire village!"

"Nagato."

"Yes, Konan. I know."

The Kyūbi's HATE started to burn the very air, and to someone as chakra-sensitive as Nagato, it felt like liquid fire pouring into his veins.

"We're done talking," Naruto said. Wind chakra swirled in his hand: a condensed vortex of spiraling power. "You said this was for peace."

Konan threw up her hands, and the air was flooded with paper.

Naruto's roar ripped through the air.** "BULLSHIT!"**

The following explosion was greater than the blast when the Deva path made the horrific mistake of impaling Hinata Hyūga right in front of Naruto.

The resulting crater was deeper than anything Pein could have ever caused.

From that day forth, it was Naruto who hunted the Akatsuki.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _Because I love the irony of Naruto making people do things they swore they'd never do._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

Never Underestimate Naruto

Chapter 4

There are many, many theories on what happened to the Senju.

Maybe they married into other families, discarding their name and lineage as easily as they'd toss moulded food.

Perhaps they were slowly picked off by enemy combatants, targeted specifically because of the family crest proudly emblazoned on their clothes.

Or possibly they were simply dealt too heavy a blow in one of the great wars, and their numbers slowly dwindled ever since.

Whatever the answer truly is, one thing is certain: Tsunade is the last.

* * *

For Jiraiya of the Legendary Three, love is a constant companion be it sensual and shameless, be it flirty and teasing, and be it downright kinky.

But most constant of all is love unrequited.

Because Jiraiya had loved his teammate Tsunade, and she'd never loved him back. And that pain never went away once in forty-something years.

Sighing, the white-haired man simply slapped down his Naruto's purse on the bar counter (he'd pilfered it when the little brat wasn't looking) and grabbed a bottle straight out of the bartender's hand. He chugged without even looking to see what was inside.

The alcohol burned his throat, but the sensation was exactly what he needed. It dulled his mind, helped him to forget, if only for a moment.

Then he remembered again, winced, and took another large gulp.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto scowled at the balloon held in his hand. He glared at it in warning, as if threatening it with death if it so much as flinched.

The noise of a bustling city drifted in through the open window, but Naruto remained still, cross-legged and glaring.

Almost there . . .

Almost there . . .

_Almost the—_

The balloon popped.

"Argh! Stupid, stupid, _stupid—_" Naruto muttered as he tossed the useless rubber onto a rapidly growing pile.

He pulled out a new one in an almost aggravated motion.

"Okay," he said, his eye twitching with a strange grin on his face. "Try number _seventy-six._"

This one popped in twelve seconds.

Naruto's scream nearly woke the entire hotel.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Ero-Sennin! What're we going in here for? I'm underaged!"

Jiraiya pushed the blob of orange away with a deadpan that reeked of exasperation. Minato had never been this annoying.

"It's not for you, _brat_. It's so we can gather intel on where Tsunade might be hiding herself."

Naruto's nose scrunched up. "Then why are we going to a bar?" he whined. Then, as an afterthought he added, "I'm hungry!"

Jiraiya lost his patience and bonked the blond nuisance on the head. "There's food there, idiot! And a bar's the _perfect_ place to pick up juicy gossip. Alcohol loosens lips like you wouldn't believe."

And other things. Jiraiya giggled perversely, causing his young charge to look at him in slight disgust.

"You just thought of something perverted, didn't you?!" A pointed finger punctuated the accusation.

Jiraiya scoffed. "Of course not," he said. "I thought of something _extremely _perverted!"

He grinned, and Naruto deadpanned. "Let's . . . let's just go inside," Naruto said, realizing that his teacher hadn't been lying in the slightest. Why were all of his teachers perverts? Kakashi-sensei read porn all the time, Ero-Sennin _wrote_ the porn, Ebisu-sensei was a closet pervert, and Iruka-sensei was . . .

Naruto paused.

He had no proof that Iruka-sensei was a pervert, but with his luck, the man was probably a bigger pervert than the all the rest combined.

The genin fought the urge to gag.

His efforts were interrupted by a rather loud reunion.

"AH! TSUNADE!" He looked over to see Ero-Sennin pointing at some woman in one of the booths.

Her face lit up in the same kind of recognition. "JIRAIYA?!"

And that's how Naruto found himself sitting across from Senju Tsunade, the woman he'd been dragged along to find.

He wasn't very impressed. Sure, she was pretty with her blonde hair and her amber eyes and her _massive_ . . . erhm . . . jugs. But she was saying things that made Naruto's blood boil.

"Only an idiot would take that position."

That did it.

Naruto slammed his hands down on the table.

Tsunade didn't so much as look at him. "Jiraiya," she said. "Put your brat on a leash."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Take that back," he said.

Tsunade looked at him with no small measure of contempt. "Oh? And why should I? It's the truth." She reached across the table, stole Jiraiya's bottle, and took a deep swig.

Naruto was trembling. "Take that back," he repeated, his voice shaking with his anger.

This time, Tsunade frowned. "Listen, _brat_. I've known all four Hokage personally. And you know what happened to them?"

Naruto said nothing, and Tsunade laughed a bitter, bitter laugh. "They died! Their position killed them!" She leaned in close, her eyes mere inches from Naruto's, drunken amber staring into burning blue. "Don't ever think that you can lecture me like you know anything, _brat_. I've seen it all. And I know that anyone who'd take that position is a complete _moro_—"

Naruto abruptly cleared the table, scattering their food and drink all over the floor. Amidst the sounds of waitresses scurrying to clean up the mess and Jiraiya's groan of 'Naruto, you idiot,' the two blonds simply stared at each other from across the table.

Tsunade smirked. "Are you sure you want to do this, brat? You're a hundred years too early to challenge me."

Naruto's glare was hot enough to give hell new standards. "Try me."

* * *

Their fight lasted a grand total of twenty seconds. Of course, Tsunade won. But something caught her interest during that time.

So she called out to the boy in a mocking challenge, to see if he really was what he thought he was. "Hey, brat! Let's make a bet, you and I!"

His face, bruised and battered in defeat, showed the wariness of someone who'd been led on quite a bit in his life. "What _kind_ of bet?" he asked.

So he was interested after all. Perfect.

"If you can master that jutsu in one week, I'll give you _this_." She reached down into the valley of her breasts and pulled out a green crystal.

She could hear Shizune's gasp and Jiraiya's sputters, but she ignored them.

Naruto, however, looked completely uninterested. "Why would I want some stupid piece of glass?"

Tsunade suddenly decided that she could like this kid.

"Naruto," Jiraiya called, "that 'stupid piece of glass' belonged to the Shodai Hokage. It's worth more than my Icha-Icha franchise, twice over."

Suddenly, Naruto looked _much_ more interested. "It's a deal," he declared. "But I won't just get it in a week! I'll get it in a _three days!_"

"But," Tsunade continued, "if you can't do it, you have to give up on this ridiculous dream of becoming Hokage!"

Dead silence.

"So," she said. "Do you still want to do this?"

Naruto's shoulders started shaking, and just as she thought he was about to keel over out of exhaustion, he started _laughing_.

Everyone started, and eventually, Naruto finished. "You're not backing out of this," he snarled, "because unlike you, I will become heir to the Hokage name no matter what!"

When the blond Sannin looked at Naruto in that moment, Naruto wasn't the only one she saw.

A week or so later, Senju Tsunade was sworn in as Konoha's Godaime Hokage.

Naruto stood in attendance at her ceremony, a green crystal necklace worn proudly over his orange vest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **_This is a little AU that I wanted to write, just to see how it would turn out. I think it's pretty decent, but that's just me. Also, this is the first chapter where the title literally has nothing to do with the chapter itself._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

Never Underestimate Naruto

Chapter 5

Uchiha Madara was more than a co-founder of the first hidden village in the world, more than just a deranged traitor clan-head who refused to accept things as they were.

He was a catalyst of both the eventual annihilation of the Uchiha, and the final, world-breaking war.

But, if he had never discovered the Mangekyō Sharingan . . . Well, that's not what happened, though. Is it?

* * *

_In another world._

Say Madara never _did _discover the Mangekyō. He would never fall to the growing madness it caused. He would never slowly lose the light in his eyes.

And he would never lose his little brother.

Because Madara never discovered the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Izuna lived.

That deviation alone caused more ripples than can be counted.

* * *

Not long after the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama worked together to devise a system to produce as many battle-ready shinobi as humanly possible.

They called it the four-man-cell.

Heading this project were two legends of Konoha: Uchiha Izuna, and Senju Tobirama.

They were each to take teams of their own as well as monitor the progress of the other four-man cells—one experienced shinobi, a jōnin, and three fresh recruits, otherwise known as genin.

There was an immediate problem, however. The prospective shinobi they received, Izuna complained, were sorely lacking in their fundamentals. Half of them couldn't hold a kunai right, and some didn't even know how to use their chakra.

Everyone agreed: something had to be done to prepare the children for life as a shinobi.

Not only was not doing so unnecessarily time-consuming for the sensei to whom they were assigned (because of necessary training), but it was dangerous as well. Vital skills were vital for a reason. Without them, the younger shinobi were easy prey to older and more experienced enemies of Konoha. Hell if they let any of their children die just because they didn't know a simple substitution.

After much debate and many close calls to all-out war between different factions of the village, it was decided that Izuna would oversee the children's preliminary training through a system they dubbed 'The Academy' while Tobirama would oversee their training under a jōnin sensei.

Strangely enough, both Tobirama and Izuna were pleased by this arrangement.

* * *

At least two years later, it was complained that there were a growing number of shinobi whose skill rested _between_ the standard jōnin and genin. Strong enough to look out for themselves, but not strong enough to protect three green recruits at the same time.

They couldn't have a real jōnin sensei still assigned to them, as that would be a major waste of resources, and they sure as hell couldn't take on students of their own.

This little dilemma caused much head-scratching and many useless propositions.

In the end, Madara got fed up with the whole thing and took matters into his own hands.

He called them Konoha's chūnin, and said that one day they would make up the backbone of the Hidden Leaf's military force. After all, barely any ever stayed genin for very long, but less than forty percent of genin graduates ever became skilled enough (or lived long enough) to have a chance to make it to jōnin.

After creating this faction of Konoha's fighting force, Madara passed on its leadership to Shikatsu Nara, head of the Nara clan.

When asked why he was so willing to just pass that leadership down, even if he _was_ one of the two leaders of the entire village itself, Madara merely looked at the askers with swirling red eyes.

The questions promptly stopped.

* * *

Some time after that, with the creation of more and more hidden villages, it was decided that someone needed to take charge of the dirty work.

While a shinobi village, Konoha had a reputation to maintain if it wanted to keep drawing in missions.

Horror stories of massacres and genocides tended to tarnish that reputation.

In some cases, though, it had to be done.

But who would do it?

From across the long council table with dozens of arguing clan heads, Hashirama and Madara met each other's gaze.

After a moment, Madara nodded, and abruptly rose from his chair and exited the room.

The clan heads fell silent as they watched him go, flanked by two bodyguards from his clan (even though everyone knew he was the last person to need them).

Hashirama smiled brightly. "Well, looks like Madara's taking care of that from now on. Now, Komuro-san, you said that more construction needed to be done for the new shopping district?"

And the meeting went on.

* * *

Somewhere deep underground, in a room filled with shadows and one, tiny lamp, Uchiha Madara stood tall in front of fifty chūnin and jōnin.

He crossed his arms and spoke with a deep, powerful voice. "You are the best our village has to offer, you are Konoha's sharpest blades. This is why you have been recruited. From this day forth, you are charged with protecting Konoha from the shadows."

He uncrossed his arms and slowly walked among them. They watched him come with a kind of awe. Here was a god of their village, and he was _among_ them.

"You will dispose of Konoha's traitors and burn their corpses. You will silence her enemies before they can strike. You will not fight for honor, because you are true shinobi, and honor is a samurai's trinket."

His words seemed to ring in the air.

"You will be the greatest fighting force this village has to offer, and you answer to only two people."

The air turned cold, and Uchiha Madara's Sharingan glowed in the darkness.

"Senju Hashirama, and me. You are now ANBU."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **_This is what happens when I write with absolutely no aim, and no planning whatsoever._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 6

Slice. Dodge. Weave. Bob. Slide. Spin. Block. Duck. _Slash._

A single body slumped to the ground, a small blade buried in its throat. There was a momentary lapse in the action as everyone stared.

Then the man went into his death throes.

Chaos erupted from brief silence.

Jump. Sidestep. Whirl. Block. Back, back, _back_. Dodge. Duck. Turn. Leap. _Draw._

The pale glow of steel pierced the inky darkness of the night.

They paused at that, but not for long.

Kakashi glared and reversed the grip on his katana. This time, instead of retreating, he charged.

Despite the blank white masks they wore, he could _feel_ their surprise.

Slash. Back. Whirl. Deflect. Redirect. Block. Block. Block. _Pierce_.

Another masked shinobi slumped to the forest floor, his lifeblood flooding from his wound.

Kakashi took a moment to count, a second in a place where _milliseconds_ were often the difference between life and death.

Two dozen men, and one of him. He didn't like those odds.

He turned and bolted.

An army of wraiths followed him without a single sound.

* * *

"Neh, neh, Kakashi-sensei," a childish voice shouted, "did ya' get it? Huh? Did ya'?"

Kakashi never stopped in his trek back to headquarters. He'd had way too much practice with this miscreant to be bothered by something as domestic as a cross between a hug and a tackle. "Of course I did, Naruto," he replied with a breezy tone.

The small blond boy hanging off his waist let go to do a little victory dance.

It was so ridiculous that Kakashi couldn't help but stop and stare in bemusement.

Naruto saw fit to add a song to the dance.

Kakashi almost immediately found himself in the middle of several other spectators.

He sighed. All this for some ramen spicing.

* * *

"Is that all, Kakashi-kun?"

"Hai, Minato-sensei. There is nothing else to report."

Naruto had long since lost interest in the conversation, so he didn't notice the flashes of hand signals between his sensei and his father.

_Not here. Not with Naruto._

_You found something._

_Yes._

_Is it safe?_

_Yes._

Namikaze Minato contemplated that for a moment, then smiled brightly. "Naruto, why don't you go take your mother out for ramen? Kakashi-kun and I need to discuss the upcoming D-ranks."

Naruto couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Even the hidden ANBU scoffed at the disappearing child.

Then the door slammed shut, and everyone was all business.

Kakashi rolled up a sleeve, revealing storage seals that had been tattooed into his skin. He bit his thumb, smeared the seal with his blood, then expelled a focused pulse of chakra.

A cloud of smoke obscured the office for a moment.

When it was gone, Kakashi held a red-rimmed scroll in a tightly closed fist.

From across the desk, Minato blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is the objective?"

"Yes. I've confirmed it no less than three times."

Minato reached, and Kakashi readily placed the scroll into his hands.

The Yondaime carefully observed the object he now possessed. "So much death," he murmured. "All for such a small, small scroll."

Kakashi said nothing, only watching with a keen eye from behind his mask.

Minato looked up, and his brow knit together. "There were casualties as well, weren't there?"

"I counted twelve. There may have been more, but I was too busy running away to pay much attention to anything that wasn't an immediate threat."

Minato nodded gravely, his eyes raking over his student's disheveled form. "Go check in with Tsunade. Have her look over you."

The dismissal was clear.

Kakashi bowed, and said, "Hai, Minato-sensei."

* * *

"You've long since outlived your purpose." The snap of latex gloves overpowered the dull hum of fluorescent lighting.

"No! Please! I'll do anything!"

He loved it when they said that. So helpless, but so _desperate_. It was an intoxicating combination, one that never failed to give him a rush.

Orochimaru smiled, and the man in front of him almost wet his pants. "Anything?" he asked.

The man, tied to an operating table with no clothes at all nodded furiously, tears streaming down his face. "Yes! Anything! Just don't do anything to me!" He broke down into choked sobbing, and Orochimaru frowned. The desperation was fun, but this sobbing was just pathetic.

He blurred, and the man when silent, his neck twisted in an unnatural angle.

Orochimaru took a moment to glance over the chart of the man he had just killed. "Let's see. Given name, Fujimoto. Clan name . . . Sarutobi? Huh, he came from sensei's clan. No wonder he was so weak."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **_I don't even know anymore. I mean, writing in the dead hours of night is a _terrible_ idea._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 7

_"Obito, you . . ."_

_The man interrupted Kakashi with a snarl. "You killed Rin!"_

_Kakashi did nothing to hide his naked shock, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. The battle was now at a standstill, completely frozen with the revelation of the man in the mask._

_Uchiha Obito._

_The man laughed, his scars rippling across his features. "What? Nothing to say now? You're not going to—"_

**BEEP.**

_Kakashi frowned. Obito's mouth was moving, his lips twisted in utter fury, but no sound was coming out._

_"Obito, I can't hea—"_

**BEEP.**

_Kakashi's world shook as the sound got louder and louder, and around him, Obito, Naruto, Gai, and Bee all looked like they were screaming at each other, but Kakashi couldn't hear any of them._

**BEEP.**

_His eardrums felt like they were about to burst, and—_

**BEEP.**

_His mind was turning to mush._

**BEE—**

Kakashi's fist crushed the alarm clock on his dressing table. He stared at the broken husk of the machine, watching as it sputtered with sparks before finally dying.

He sighed. That was the fifth one this week. He collapsed back onto his bed, drenched in a cold sweat.

Why was he dreaming about something so ridiculous? After all, Obito was just a moron who made it a point to be late to everything. There was no way he could—

His thought's trailed off as his head rushed to meet the pillow in a glorious embrace. He was asleep in seconds.

* * *

"You're late again, moron."

Obito adjusted his orange goggles angrily, as if in preparation for an impending fight. "Shut up, you jerk! I had to help old man Yatsuko with his garbage! And then Mitsui-san's cat got stuck in a tree, so I—"

"A _real_ shinobi would _never_ be late. It's one of our rules. Those who break the rules are nothing but scum."

Obito turned red, and just as he was about to utter a scathing retort, Kakashi heard something else.

_Those that break the rules are trash—_

The voice sounded strangely familiar, seeming to come from nowhere, but it was interrupted by Minato-sensei's efforts in peacekeeping.

"Now, now, don't fight, boys. We have a long day ahead of us."

Kakashi shook off the disorientation of apparently having been the only one to have heard the disembodied voice and glared suspiciously at his smiling sensei.

Obito was far less cautious. "Whoo! Are we gonna go do something totally awesome?"

_Half an hour later:_

"This sucks! We're cleaning out _latrines?!_"

"Maybe we'd have gotten a better mission if you weren't so late."

Obito was just about to reply with an angry and heartfelt_ 'Screw you, asshole!'_ when the lovely Rin added in her own two cents. "As much as I hate to say it, Kakashi-kun is right, Obito. We'd get much better options for our missions if you arrived just a little earlier."

She couldn't help it. Even _she_ was ticked off with having to clean thirty latrines in the outskirts of Konoha for the construction workers to use.

The Uchiha boy blushed a bright red and went silent. He didn't speak again for the rest of the mission, too shamed to so much as make a sound.

* * *

Kakashi stared at the memorial stone, his black eyes tracing over the smooth surface with held the names of Konoha's fallen.

Unnoticed be him, his hand began tugging at his headband in a reflexive motion until it had entirely covered his left eye.

_'Why . . . am I here?'_

His gaze found the name of the coward who had once been his father, the former hero who had chosen to abandon him and die after sabotaging a vital mission. That he saved his comrades did not matter. The mission always comes first.

Kakashi glared, hands raking through his hair, and his gaze found his father's name, one inscribed alongside thousands of thousands of shinobi who had died in service of Konoha.

_Hatake Sakumo._

Kakashi sneered. _'You don't _deserve_ to be on this stone,'_ he thought.

A splitting headache immediately ambushed him, eliciting a cry of pain.

_Those who break the rules are trash—_

Kakashi was rolling on the grass now, his hands clutching at his head. It was like someone was driving screws through his skill from the inside. And whacking them for good measure. Kakashi couldn't help it. He screamed.

* * *

He woke to white linen sheets and the scent of bleach.

Obito and Rin were asleep at the foot of his bed, but Minato-sensei was nowhere to be seen.

Kakashi stared with a strange sense of . . . longing. Was this what it was like to have a family?

He immediately quashed the sensation. It would bring weakness, he was sure.

His checking out of the hospital went relatively smoothly, even if Obito made himself a nuisance by calling Kakashi a wimp for passing out while not even doing anything hard.

Kakashi punched him.

Obito returned the favor, or at least tried.

Minato-sensei didn't return for another five minutes, as he had gone off to check in with his new wife, and poor Rin had no idea what to do.

When Minato returned, he found the results of a VERY one-sided battle.

He couldn't help but sigh.

* * *

Kakashi found himself at the memorial stone again, fingers tracing over the carved names like sacred words that had to be memorized. And oddly, they also traced over blank portions of the stone.

Kakashi felt an odd sense of apprehension.

He sighed. Why was he out here again? Did he really have nothing to do other than sit here and trace the names of dead men and women?

This was an ineffective, _irresponsible_ way to waste his t—

_—but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash._

Kakashi's eyes bulged, and he turned away to regurgitate his lunch. Unfortunately, it was in the koi pond. Strangely enough, the fish liked the additional meal.

The silver-haired teen watched as his reflection rippled with fish after fish, most simply seeking a bit of food, although there were a few curious ones that simply wanted to see this strange creature which had invaded their home.

He sat like that for several minutes.

When he looked up, a single eye glowed red.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** _This one probably sucks, but I just felt like writing something about Kaguya._

_Regards,_

_— Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 8

_Why? Why did it have to come to this?_

_Why, when we were living in harmony with the land, why did _she_ come from the sky?_

— From the excerpts of Makundala, Chieftain of the Genyu

* * *

Three thousand years before the conclusion of the final war, mankind had no chakra.

In fact, they had only just discovered iron and were slowly experimenting with it by shaping it into tools for farming and clearing forests for wood and land. For a time, the new discovery brought much prosperity, and everyone benefited from increased production in the farms, and from tools that lasted twice as long.

But this early human society was unstable, for there was no real leader among them: merely dozens of small chieftains vying for power.

War broke out with the creation of better weapons, and small stability problems were traded in for constant conflict between three powerful kingdoms. Was it the better option? Who's to say? Nothing is certain in war.

The first was the Kingdom of the Genyu.

A kingdom of tribes in a land of forests and wild mountains, they only came together as a people once each year for a grand market which doubled as a center of the law where people could get legal disputes sorted out. When the wars came upon them, they had no choice but to abandon their way of life and come together permanently to face an assault from two fronts.

The tribes of the Genyu quickly adapted to life on the run, forever fleeing from two powerful enemies. After all, what could they do with such weak numbers?

The second kingdom was the opposite of the Genyu in every possible way. The Taurans were industrial, warlike people, their entire society one that was ruled by the mighty: a society in which the weak were systematically killed off. They held little to no regard for the environment, only caring for the resources to be had and nothing more.

Theirs was a kingdom of the spear and shield, thirsting for blood and hungry for power. Although their technology was primitive, their numbers were vast enough for their armies to cast the land in the shadows of war.

The third . . . The third kingdom was another story entirely.

The kingdom of Gelel had harnesses a superpower in the form of crystals. They used the energy for everything, from farming to _flying. _Using the stones, trees never stopped bearing fruit, wells never ran dry, and all things stopped aging. With the absence of natural death, their empire expanded rapidly, its borders stretching from coast to coast.

The three-way war went on for longer than anyone could remember, taking more lives and shattering more families than any natural calamity in the history of the land. Villages were wiped out and cities were razed, and through it all weapons were improved as each kingdom grew more and more desperate for domination.

Then disaster struck as the people of Gelel attempted to use the stones for something which they were never meant to be used for. No one knows what, exactly. Not even their surviving descendants. In a single night, their entire kingdom sunk to the bottom of the ocean, leaving only a small chain of islands on the western coast of the remaining half of the continent.

All knowledge of the stones of Gelel were lost as the royal family fled across the seas, taking the last of the stones with them.

And then there were two.

Drunk with their newfound domination, the Taurans threw everything they had at the Genyu, and the Genyu ran.

But after three centuries of harassment, enough was enough. The Genyu were a people of the forests and mountains, while the out-of-place Taurans were more at home in the arid plains.

In the dense wilderness of their homes, the Genyu moved like ghosts, not making so much as a sound, able to sneak up right behind their enemies. In small bands of ten to twenty warriors, men and women alike, they picked off the invading forces bit by bit until the bones of entire legions bleached white in the sun.

Eventually, the war ground to a standstill because the Genyu were incapable of attacking outright, and because the Taurans were reluctant to throw another of their legions into this Forest of Death.

As with most ceasefires, the land assumed the appearance of peace as less souls were lost with each passing day.

And then _she_ came, fell straight from the sky. The woman with silver hair, white eyes, and horns that extruded from the crown of her head.

Armies were sent out to meet this strange new woman. A goddess sent from the heavens, surely! But one look from those white eyes, and hundreds of men found themselves paralyzed under her otherworldly ferocity.

It was a massacre. Out of thousands of men, only a few dozen made it back alive. With them, they brought tales of horror and death and a monster beyond compare.

Panicking, the Taurans reached out to their natural enemies and quickly forged an alliance.

It didn't matter.

When the armies of both peoples took to the field against the demon woman, she floated in midair and looked at them all with the disdain that only a celestial being could ever hope to achieve.

For the first time since her arrival, she spoke. Her voice was musical, enchanting, and entirely unnatural. "Surrender," she said. "Surrender, or you shall surely die."

Slowly, in the center of her forehead, a third eye of ripples and undulating power snapped wide open.

"Surrender."

And they did.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **_This isn't 750 words, but I HAVE been writing, so I think I'm excused for not meeting the quota. Anyway, this idea? It isn't mine. It's been borrowed from demonicnargles' story 'Killing Intent' whose name I finally remembered after hours of searching._

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 9

Killing intent is not a common skill.

As strange as that may sound, it's true. Ninja who can properly project killing intent are downright _rare_._  
_

Genin barely understand the inner workings of their own jutsu, much less how to manipulate their chakra to such a degree. Chuunin have a bit more mastery of their chakra and they can actually use a small amount killing intent, although their control fluctuates with their emotions. Jounin are a different matter. The jounin of any hidden village are battle-tested and masters at using their chakra. Not only can they use killing intent, but they can use it on command, paralyzing enemies with the sheer force of their will.

During the fight with Zabuza, Sasuke was forced to stab himself in the leg just to keep from running away. Naruto was curiously unaffected.

Just as there is the gap between genin and chuunin, and just as there is a gap between chuunin and jounin, there is a chasm between jounin and those that hold the title of Kage.

When a Kage uses killing intent, the world stands still. Entire squads of shinobi run away in utter panic, hearts stop beating out of fright alone, and the air becomes thick with a miasma of lethal rage.

For Orochimaru who is a Kage in everything but name, killing intent is as natural as breathing. One, predatory look and a gleam in his snake-like eyes, and young Uchiha Sasuke does everything he can to escape.

Until Naruto, once again curiously unaffected by the killing intent, barges in.

Where the Kage are undisputed masters in the art of projecting murderous intent, there is only one King.

It is said that the Kyuubi's killing intent spans for miles, that its foul chakra stings and burns, and that if you look into its great, red eyes, you will freeze in place, helpless to do anything when a massive taloned hand crushes the life from your body.

So powerful was the Kyuubi's rage that on the night of its attack on Konoha, 548 civilians died from exposure alone. They tried to run, but the air turned thick, and something squeezed their hearts.

The only man capable of facing down the Kyuubi's paralyzing stare unaffected was the Yondaime Hokage himself, and in the end he gave his life to stop the beast.

For weeks afterwards, the killing intent lingered in the air, causing miscarriages and hemorrhages. It was particularly strong around a newborn baby in the Sandaime (now Hokage)'s custody.

Perhaps, some speculate, the baby inherited some measure of the demon's power. Perhaps that's why Naruto never so much as blinks at stronger opponents.

Perhaps that's why his glares when he's truly enraged are like death incarnate.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **My first attempt at a first-person POV. I admit that I'm still a novice at this style of writing, so just view this as a practice run. ;)

Anyway, here's a little piece of advice a friend of mine gave me:

_"I took off my mental inhibitor on things that I usually won't say out loud because they sound too stupid or not entirely thought through enough (i.e. censored for sensitivity issues/logical fallacies) and then cranked up the volume by three." — Zenthisoror on how to write a Naruto first-person POV._

Hopefully that helps you. I know it helped me.

Regards,

Duesal Bladesinger

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 10

The punch landed like a sledgehammer, and my face snapped back as blood sprayed inside my mouth. My head turned, my body followed, and I ended up losing my balance altogether and skidding right across the water with the force of the blow.

Not many people know this, but if you hit water when traveling at high speeds, it acts like concrete. My skin tore and I could feel my bones cracking bit by bit with each impact. It really, _really _hurt.

I rolled to a stop, my body thoroughly battered, and my face starting to swell.

But I had been through worse before. If nothing else, I was tenacious.

I got up, then I spit off to the side: I'd always hated the taste of blood.

In front of me, Sasuke stared with that bastard deadpan that practically _screamed _'I'm-so-out-of-your-league'. I'd always hated that look, so smug and arrogant.

"Had enough, Naruto?" he said.

I gritted my teeth in response. Once a bastard, always a bastard. When he was still with the Leaf, Sasuke would always get attention and acknowledgement without even trying. He'd get everything right, and when people tried to congratulate him, he'd ignore them, because he was chasing something else. I hadn't understood back then, just how little everything in the Academy had mattered to him, so I tried competing with him, tried beating him. _Anything _to get him off that high horse of his.

Except now, I finally realized that it wasn't a high horse at all.

He honestly couldn't bring himself to care about anything except killing Itachi. I supposed that I'd never be able to understand that, because that was some pretty messed up stuff. And even I wasn't _that _crazy.

"After all these years, is this really the best you can do?" He smirked, and I got the distinct impression that Kabuto (may that little snake forever be denied the awesomeness of ramen) had been a bad influence. In other words, his smile was _really _getting under my skin.

"Bring it, bastard," I snarled, my voice instinctively deepening to a primal timbre. The noise echoed against the riverside cliffs that loomed around us, and a clap of thunder against a steel sky announced the start of a storm.

We waited, tightened our hands around the hilts of our weapons (him a sword and me my kunai), and we stared across the river. Almost like a signal from the heavens, a single raindrop fell in between us, and we watched it fall. It met the river, pushing against the surface until the water gave way. By the time the drop bounced back up, Sasuke and I blurred.

* * *

A long time ago, Sasuke told me that powerful shinobi can understand each other with their fists.

He was saying something with his right now, as his leg lashed out against my stomach. My block was as natural as breathing, my forearm taking the blow that would have cracked more than a few ribs.

I used chakra to brace myself against the water, then shoved off against Sasuke's leg.

He ended up using the momentum against me, spinning around for a high kick aimed for my neck. I growled, ducked under it, then fired off a series of punches at his ribcage, all of which were blocked or avoided. It was almost depressing how fast he was sometimes.

He got a gleam in his eye, then. A _red_ gleam. I tensed, and suddenly Sasuke was twice the threat. His speed had doubled, his strikes were now pin-point accurate, aiming for all the weak spots in my stance, and the strength behind his every blow was staggering.

Sharingan. Even I had to admit, those eyes were pretty cool. Well, they would be if they weren't being used by someone trying to kill me.

A particularly hard punch to my shoulder put me off balance, and Sasuke took the opportunity to sink his foot into my side. The wind whooshed out of me, and I doubled over, paralyzed for a few seconds when I really couldn't afford to be. Sudden apprehension gripped me, and something hard bowled me over into the river.

I sunk like a rock, and little tendrils of blood and silvery bubbles trailed away from my body, up away from the darkness of the deep river.

I thought about what Sasuke had said, not with words, but through fighting all-out.

_You can't understand, and the fact that you presume to is sickening._

As my body sunk, swallowed by the depths, I clenched my fists. I realized something.

I hadn't punched my reply into his face yet.

It didn't matter that I was a horrible swimmer. I just paddled like a madman and raced to the surface. I'm pretty sure that the bastard actually thought that would do me in, judging by the surprise on his face.

He snarled, then his sword was whipping at me with enough force to cleave me in two. I could see lightning crackling along its edge and smell the ozone in the air. I ignored the face, then I caught the blade in between two open palms.

The utter shock in his eyes was too satisfying for words.

Then I punched him again and again with only one thought in mind.

_I. Am. Bringing. You. Back._


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **_Because I'm an evil bastard who loves it when the hero and the people he loves meet their doom. It makes my day, especially since ninety-nine percent of Japanese anime is teenagers killing God with the power of friendship. _

_Regards,_

_Duesal Bladesinger_

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 11

Naruto was hurtling head-first into a ravine. That his supposed instructor had been the one to throw him down wasn't of as much importance as the fact that he was falling to certain death.

Naturally, he panicked. He grasped desperately at the walls in hopes of at least slowing his descent, but his attempts were thwarted by his daunting momentum and hindered by the moistness of the walls themselves.

A realization settled in for Naruto: he was going to die.

Like, actually _die_.

What the hell! He wasn't ready for this! He was still only a genin! He hadn't kissed Sakura-chan yet! He hadn't beaten that bastard of a teammate Sasuke in a fair fight, and he hadn't become Hokage!

This wasn't fair.

This wasn't fair!

This wa**s**n'**t **_f**air****!**_

Defiant fury railed against his incoming doom, and then there was a pulse of power: Naruto was no longer falling.

It was dark, like a cave, but the hulking metal walls on either side reminded him more of an industrial building. Shallow water rippled at his feet, and the air was cold enough that Naruto could see his own breath in the dim lighting.

"What is this place?" The question was more of a grasp at his bewildering new environment than an actual question, and it showed in the uncertainty in his voice. Suddenly, the room wasn't so dark anymore. The lighting grew brighter until in front of him, Naruto could see a massive iron-wrought gate with a single paper seemingly taped over it. The room may have been dark, but the area behind that gate was the sheer absence of light. Naruto felt his breath quicken and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. With a sinking feeling, he realized where he was.

Something else realized that he was there.

**"So," **it said, **"my jailer comes to greet me at last."**

The voice was like a knife scraping against stone, filled with ancient malice. Naruto froze, and an instinct older than civilization awoke within him, and adrenalin surged through his veins.

Fight or flight.

Fight? The idea was laughable.

But at the same time, where was there to run to? He was going to die one way or another, by a monster's claws or by unforgiving rock.

**"What? Nothing to say, human?"**

Then, totally out of character, Naruto glared at the thing that was a few hundred times his size with seemingly no fear at all. "Hey, I'm gonna die! And if I die, you die!" The truth was that he was just really good at hiding his real emotions. Naruto was ready to piss himself. A growl was the only response, and Naruto faltered before regaining his composure. "So . . ." Great red eyes flashed: the only things that Naruto could see in the darkness of the prison.

**"How about this? Do you see that slip of paper on the door?"**

Naruto's caution rose, but he still choked out a response. "Y-yeah?"

**"Remove that, and I might consider giving you some of my power to save yourself."**

Naruto took a closer look at the paper. It was long, rectangular (like most other pieces of paper), and it said "SEAL". Naruto blanched. "No. Nuh uh. No way in _Hell _am I taking that off." He took three steps back away from the cage for good measure, and the Kyūbi responded with a rumbling growl of irritation.

**"Then die."**

The eyes closed. Naruto felt a sudden surge of panic. "Wait! If I die, you die too!" The bark of laughter nearly blew him away, and he had to brace his feet with chakra just to stay standing upright.

**"And where did you here that, little shinobi? Do you really believe that I, a king among demons, would really be tied to your life?" **The gate shuddered and rattled as claws longer than boats slipped through the holes to lash out at Naruto who barely managed to stumble back. **"Believe your foolish delusions if you wish. When you die, it shall be my release, and Konoha will burn once more."**

"How come both options end up with you being free?!" A baleful red-eyed glare successfully shut Naruto up. But he knew that he was running out of time. Think, think, _think_!

The Kyūbi was about to lash out with a scathing retort, but he stopped short. Then he grinned, his teeth flashing in the inky darkness of his cage. **"Looks like you're out of time, human."**

The sight of the claws dragging across the floor back through the gate was the last thing Naruto ever saw.

And the last thing he ever heard was a demon's mocking laughter.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **_So I just needed to write something to get a little de-stressed, and here's what came out. It's really not good. :/ Posting anyway._

* * *

**Never Underestimate Naruto**

Chapter 10

Revolution - the harbinger of change.

And that, Sasuke thought to himself, was exactly what this world needed. Revolution, bloody and violent. The kind that would burn down cities and thrust the world into a crucible or torment and pain, only to forge it anew.

Revolution, huh?

Yes, revolution. Because the current system was what caused this in the first place. A system so bad that it was flawed since before it even began. A system protected by the five that called themselves Kage.

Well then, in that case, the Kage stood directly in the way of revolution, blocked the path to change.

It wasn't revenge. Sasuke had given that up a while ago.

It was merely what had to be done. For revolution there had to be a change in leadership, and most leaders would not step down willingly. They might even muster the world against him if they had the chance. And as much as Sasuke knew the world needed to change, he also knew that most of the world would fight against _any_ change.

The fools.

So he would give them absolutely no choice. The Kage were all still trapped in the Eternal Tsukuyomi. He would kill them as they dreamed of their perfect little would, and _then_ he would dispel the genjutsu and build his own world from the ashes of the old.

Some would resent him: of this he was sure. Many would hate him: of that he was certain. And Uzumaki Naruto would only go down fighting: of this there was never any doubt.

Naruto . . . would he ever understand what Sasuke was trying to do? Would he understand how much the world _needed _to rid itself of the shinobi system? Perhaps he would, but he would probably still fight to protect it because of his ridiculous sense of honor and ideals.

Loyal dog of Konoha, forever chasing the dream of being Hokage.

And what exactly did the title of Fire-Shadow mean to Naruto, anyway? Was it merely 'leader of the village hidden in the leaves'? Knowing that idiot, probably.

But to Sasuke, it meant so much more.

To Sasuke, the Hokage will be the harbinger. The one who becomes Hokage will reshape the world.


End file.
